In terms of single-day records, The Avengers actually did break one Friday record, as it made $61 million not-counting midnight screenings, crushing the $49 million 'regular business hours' Friday grosses of Spider-Man 3, The Dark Knight, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II. It handedly broke both the Saturday and Sunday records by wide margins. The Avengers actually made more on Saturday ($69 million) and it did during 'normal business hours' on Friday, besting Spider-Man 3's $51 million Saturday record. The Avengers grossed $59 million on Sunday, crushing the $43 million earned by The Dark Knight on its first Sunday. The Avengers did not have a sub-2.0x weekend multiplier like the last Harry Potter film, or the barely-2.0x multiplier like the last couple Twilight films, and The Hunger Games. The Avengers pulled a rock-solid 2.57x weekend multiplier. That's the kind of consistency you rarely find with big opening weekends, let alone monstrous record-setters like this. The film earned an A+ from Cinemascore, and these numbers bare that out. The picture played 50% over/under 25 years old and 60% male. It earned a surprising 52% of its gross in 3D ticket sales with 8% of that being from IMAX. So yes, even without the 3D bump, it still would have set a new opening weekend record (around $175 million, although theoretical 2D IMAX showings would have had the same 'bump' as 3D IMAX showings). And yes even with inflation factored in, the film sold more tickets over its opening weekend than any other film ever (26.5 million tickets, about 3.5 million more than The Dark Knight). The Avengers played all weekend to packed houses all day and night for audiences of all shapes and sizes. And, if only judging by my Twitter feed, there was lots of repeat business just over the weekend.
I may have token issues with the film in terms of its worth as a piece of art (non-spoiler review and spoiler discussion). But as a big-budget spectacle rooted in characters worth cheering for, the picture absolutely delivers the kind of popcorn entertainment that these kind of films often fail to deliver. Marvel did the groundwork over the last four years, releasing stand-alone films that introduced most of these heroes in their solo adventures, and this was the glorious pay-off. This was the first Marvel film distributed by Disney, as Paramount sold the rights to their Marvel characters to the Mouse House back in 2010. While I may carp about the quality of the marketing materials (mediocre trailers, hilariously photo-shopped posters), they did take the time and money to guarantee curiosity and awareness, while the film's quality was the most potent tool in creating interest outside of the die-hards, as Disney correctly screened the film early and often to create a typhoon of buzz heading into its domestic debut. Opening weekend is usually more about marketing than the quality of the film, but the consistent numbers clearly show that the film's quality was a key component of the marketing campaign. Still, if I may, I'd like to take a moment to remember the stellar marketing work that Paramount has done with the prior five films, starting with marketing a B-level hero (Iron Man) to a $100 million debut four years ago. They sold Thor despite having little buzz-worthy footage and managed the tricky feat of turning Captain America into a global blockbuster. Disney deserves plenty of credit for this weekend's debut, but let's not let Paramount become the Chris Columbus of Marvel marketing efforts (although Paramount will get their share of Avengers movie too).
Oh yeah, the film continued to burn up the foreign charts too, and the film now has $648 million worldwide, good for the top-grossing worldwide earner of 2012 (it will probably surpass The Hunger Games's domestically within a week, so I was wrong on that count). How high it climbs is a complete mystery at this point. The strong weekend multiplier, the rousing audience reactions, the strong replay value, and the comparative lack of competition over the next month (sorry Battleship... you're officially sunk) leaves the field open for a huge sprint. In twelve days worldwide, it has outgrossed every prior Marvel movie on a worldwide scale outside of the first three Spider-Man films. It outgrossed the domestic totals of The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America in three days. In just three days, it is the 12th-highest grossing comic book film of all-time in America, and will surpass 300 ($210 million), and X2 ($214 million) tomorrow while passing X-Men: The Last Stand ($234 million), Men In Black ($250 million), and Batman ($251 million) by Tuesday or Wednesday. This isn't a guarantee, but if it can hold up and weather what should be a solid debut for Tim Burton's Dark Shadows, we *could* see the first $100 million second-weekend and a ten-day total dangerously close to $400 million. Again, it's not just the three-day figure, but the manner in which it was earned. This is no quick-kill blockbuster that dies off after the hardcore fans see it over opening weekend. Even a somewhat healthy 2.5x weekend-to-final gross multiplier gets the film a $517 million domestic total while a 3x multiplier has it flirting with besting Titanic's original theatrical release with $621 million (these pesky 3D reissues make everything more complicated). If it performs like The Dark Knight (3.3x multiplier), it ends with a stunning $683 million. We'll know more next weekend, but for now, this is an incredible weekend performance by a film that was rewarded for delivering exactly what it promised.
Sorry, but no time for holdovers right now. Here are the rest of the weekend numbers and I'll dig into them if I get a chance (Think Like A Man is now at $73 million). Until then, share your Avengers-related box office thoughts below.
For a look at the history of the opening weekend record-breaker, go HERE.
Scott Mendelson
Is it conceivable that this film has Dark Knight-type legs long term? TDK only made about 30% of its total in its opening weekend; that would have Avengers flirting with Titanic right there.
ReplyDeleteIt's possible, especially as the rest of May is awfully unexciting. The Dark Knight pulled a 3.3x weekend-to-final gross multiplier. A similar performance would give The Avengers $674 million, good for #2 on the domestic all-time list. We'll know a lot more at the end of next weekend...
DeleteI was surprised how long it was, in a good way. Normally when anything goes well over 2 hours I can feel it. Not this time.
ReplyDeleteWith the Avatar sequels and Hobbit films most likely staying in the December slot, there's no film that's going to beat this record in the foreseeable future...except for Avengers 2 in 3 years. I thought Catching Fire could do it because that all depends on if it's in 3D and I don't see that being in 3D either.
ReplyDeleteAnd now the narrative will turn to the Dark Knight Rises not matching the Avengers opening weekend and seen as a disappointment, which is completely ludicrous.
Without the 3D bump, there's no way Rises can even come close to this number.
This is probably true. Without the 3D-bump (but with the theoretical IMAX 2D bump), The Avengers would have opened to about $180 million. And without the iconic Batman/Joker narrative and without the various free publicity that Heath Ledger's death brought to The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises will likely have to settle with 'just' $160 million or so. Lots of people who wouldn't otherwise sample a Batman film did so four years ago because of the intrigue that the film developed. Quite a few of those people weren't nearly as blown away by the film as the fans/critics were. They liked it just fine, but didn't worship at its alter like we did. Will they return this July? Most of them may, but it won't be on opening weekend because they won't be as amped as we are.
ReplyDeleteIf The Avengers pulls a 3.3x weekend-to-final multiplier like The Dark Knight, it gets to $675 million. With a relatively weak May (Battleship will probably bomb and no one is uber-amped for Men In Black 3), the field is pretty wide until (ironically) Snow White and the Huntsman. It's going to be a good summer for Chris Hemsworth.
ReplyDeleteThis contiunes to amaze me, the opening weekend was underestimated? I thought there was a good chance Disney would overestimate just to have the headlines read $200 million. The drop in Sunday is so miniscule. If WOM of mouth is this good and poor competition in the next couple of weeks, I can't see how it doesn't hit at least high $500+ million. Even passing Titanic.
ReplyDeleteThat the estimate came in at *exactly* $200 million led me to wonder about overestimation. But considering the massive Saturday numbers, I wasn't too surprised to see that Sunday was just as strong. Again, I know Twitter isn't an exact science, but lots of my would-be followers were checking it out Sunday night for the second or third time. Underestimation is a valuable tool, since it allows you to brag about good news twice instead of just once. Warner Bros pulled the same trick with Batman Begins, where a slightly under-performing opening became 'better' because of the larger actual figures ($45m estimate versus $48m final). Star Trek was severely underestimated by Paramount back in May 2009 as well (I think it was $75m on Sunday which became $79m on Monday). Yeah, it's the eye-popping Saturday and Sunday numbers that are truly impressive. Can it do $30-40 million today? Can it get to $300 million over the next four days and end next Sunday over $400 million? It is frighteningly possible at this point.
ReplyDeleteWe'll know lots more next weekend, but a weak May (Battleship is sunk and I can't imagine anyone amped for Men In Black 3) leaves the field wide open until Snow White and the Huntsman (good summer to be Chris Hemsworth). But a 3.3x multiplier (ala Dark Knight) gives The Avengers $675 million. Insane, but frighteningly possible at this juncture.
ReplyDeleteYep. The only thing I see is that Rises may have longer legs because it's in the middle summer with no competition. As big as Avengers was, kids are still in school so the weekdays won't be as big, even though they'll be huge.
ReplyDeleteI still think, in the long game, Rises has the better domestic take but I think Avengers takes the worldwide total by a lot.
...unless Rises is completely off the charts.
There is shockingly little coming out after The Dark Knight Rises this summer. Unless the world really gives a crap about a Total Recall remake and The Bourne Redundancy (which open on the same day anyway), TDKR basically has the rest of the summer to itself.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Here's hoping WB gets a clue and pushes Man of Steel in the Harry Potter/Batman July spot the following summer so that Man of Steel has a chance to do some good business.
ReplyDeleteWB should just claim that mid-July spot as theirs from now on and stop playing around.
It wouldn't shock me one bit if they pushed it to Wednesday and go for the 5 day total.
ReplyDeleteWhat difference would it make when it opened to get awards recognition unless they were to push it back to fall.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I disagree that Potter was shunned. I highly enjoyed the movie but I I don't think it deserved best picture/director nod like a lot of people claimed.